Rajasthan govt orders inquiry into Re 1 NREGS wage

Reacting on the Indian Express report about the payment of just Re 1 in May for workers in Rajasthan's Gudaliya village under the MNREGAS scheme, the Rajasthan goverment has ordered a full inquiry over the incident.

An independent team from Jaipur will probe lapses in the Panchayati Raj system alongside the inquiry by the district collector, Panchayati Raj and Rural Developmentn Minister Bharat Singh said on Tuesday.

Singh said, "A full inquiry has been ordered. A team will be sen from Jaipur to the spot to conduct an in-depth, parallel probe along with the district collectors's own inquiry."

However, Nikhil Dey of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) said all workers cannot be punished for the laxity of some. "The government cannot pay them a collective amount. If officials believed some people were slacking, they should have been marked them absent for the day and not paid them aything. But paying an entire group Re 1 is a shame," said Dey.

Senior goverment officials said it was important to monitor the working of NREGS, and such low wages should have sprung to notice.

Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister C P Joshi, who hails from Rajasthan said the matter was a concern of the state government, and the Centre could only advise the state after the root cause was determined.